North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 09/09/1994

We can tonight jazz singer named afraid alone. Happy Friday to you everyone I'm watching a case bailing out there in

the market are glad you could join us if you saw earlier right there at the beginning of the show that was jazz singer Nina Freeland and she is with us tonight she's a famous jazz singer from North Carolina with a beautiful voice. You the full woman. We also will have a feature from Andy park he is going to try his hand or whatever at horse jumping I don't know how he's going to do it but we'll watch that. Also we want to tell you the shuttle Discovery You know it's supposed to be launched this afternoon but problems with the weather it was delayed a little bit may go off this evening but what we really want to tell you about is that it will have on board a U and see bicentennial medallion and a small Tarheel flag these momentos are being carried into space by the shuttle's commander Jerry Lynn injure commander Lynn and earned his master's and a Ph.D. at him but the reality from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989 and this is his first trip into space. So we have to take you and C with him but first over a half century ago one of the

world's largest wooden structures was built at Elizabeth City it was a hangar for U.S. Navy blimps Bob Garner reports that today the huge building is being used for a different but related purpose. This is what most people visualize if they think about blimps today but 50 years ago during World War Two it was different. Navy air ships were a common sight in the skies near both U.S. coasts on the North Carolina Outer Banks blimps often glided over the Memorial to man's first powered flight at Kitty Hawk. The Navy's airship patrols flew from their base at Elizabeth City to 100 German submarines before the blimp began flying the U-boats had been sinking tankers and cargo ships virtually at will off Cape Hatteras. Fred ferry is a longtime resident of Elizabeth City said the five day to five ships was a song that within a period of three or four years. That's a lot of shipping to be a song. Could you see signs of damage all along.

Yes the big ships look like. This had been a year because so much had come a show on it look like asphalt it was so big and it was terrible. Birds are shore birds had been covered with they all but the coming of the blimp patrols largely neutralized the submarine Minnes in the coastal shipping lanes. They did break up a lot of the top petering of ships at sea and very few while aloft once they were in use. Now there isn't much left of the original airship base that helped keep Elizabeth City crowded during the war. Well of course most of they go on and the ships start. And the auditorium and most all of that is gone now. But this was big big big. And what's left still is when the U.S. entered the war a new steel hangar had just been completed at Elizabeth

City. But in one thousand forty two with more blimps needed and every ounce of steel required for war production the government began building 16 enormous wood brain blimp hangars at different bases. It was the world's largest single building project using wood. And it took only one year to complete. Only eight of the mammoth structure still stands today including this one of the Elizabeth City to get an idea of its size. Compare the size of the door to the bus and the trucks parked outside. It's over 170 feet to the top of the arches and this hangar is more than three football fields long. There are over six acres under the roof. The Navy discontinued all its blimp operations 30 years ago. But while the adjoining steel hangar at all is of a city sits rusting home to a small furniture factory the wooden structure still houses some of the latest lighter than air technology. The hangars present owner Tom bills a few blimps as a sideline but its real business is building aerostats. There are unmanned blimp shaped helium balloons

tethered to the ground and serving as an electronic platform for the world's most advanced radar systems. Business is booming. One reason being that aerostats are an economical alternative to airplanes as a way of using radar to detect intruding aircraft or even low flying missiles. Most of the aerostats designed for this purpose are sold to foreign governments but aerostat borne radar is also used to combat drug smuggling. In fact aerostats make up a virtual electronic fence now being installed along the U.S.-Mexican border in the Bahamas and on board ships off the coast. Lighter than air technology has certainly changed since the blimp some patrol days but it's still essentially a matter of putting eyes and ears in the sky to see what the other guy's doing. The old wooden structure beside the passcode tank river in Elizabeth City has pretty well seen it all. Most aerostats are tethered to monitoring stations on the ground but in the future they may be more to ships off the coast which would make them especially useful to help

combat drug smuggling. Well thoroughbred horses makes you think of blue grass of Kentucky right. Well not necessarily. North Carolina is nationally known for its equine activities as our Andy park found out recently and they also found out you can't just jump on your horse and ride off in all directions. This beautiful state we live in was explored pioneered and worked into submission by people on horseback. But I've always wondered if the horse like so many other things was Nowadays beyond the purse of the common person. Every morning when I drive to work I pass a horse farm. The sight of these beautiful animals is awesome. There's hardly anything more beautiful for instance than a six day old foal. Dr. Bob Morey of North Carolina State University heads up a statewide group supporting the horse industry. I asked him just how big is the horse in North Carolina. Well Andy the horse industry has really been booming over the past several years. We

have noted that the economy and the economic impact back to the state of North Carolina is somewhere around 500 million dollars per year. Wow. We have also seen a horse industry that's been growing in spite of some economic depressions and stay where you are right now estimate about two hundred twenty five thousand head of horses owned by 65000 horse producers. Everywhere I go I see kids particularly young girls in love with horses. How important is it to raising our kids the 4H horse program in general though teaches respect self-reliance sportsmanship and really helps to improve the self-esteem of those young people and build good moral character. And every weekend I see kids riding and even jumping these huge thoroughbreds. Well I decided that if a seven year old girl can take a thoroughbred horse over the jumps. Well maybe this whole redhead has a change. So I drove out and looked up Wirth Miller at the hunter's horse farm in Hillsboro. I found worth and his assistant Ginger Sandy

and I told him that I came ready to learn what it is to see. Thank you. I don't know what he wants most to get back to believe he come from. That's a very funny worth what have we got now you know. I know I'm good. Yeah I mean you are worth working over. Let MH Ginger saying Ginger how are you. Good how are you today. I guess you can probably tell when I'm dressed but I'd kind of like to ride a horse like Game of the rock was. Well good good in that. Or did you find that half. Yes well it's a farm animal. Yeah I just figured it'd be right. Well this isn't actually a pig farm. This is a horse. And you need the proper head here. You need a safety helmet. We have that here we can supply that for you want to come right here on the left hand side you do everything you put your satellite for years worth if you can get that girth that I did he always said one should dress the

part. But then again maybe my dad he didn't know anything about horses. I already look out horse here I come. Well he looks pretty high to me but I'll have to get all right. I finally figured what the heck it's not how you get on the horse that counts but what you do once you're in the saddle. Look out Roy Rogers here I come like this. Ginger and Wirth were pretty patient with me I mean after all you're supposed to spin the matter of weeks or even months just getting in shape to learn how to stay on a horse. But of course I wanted to jump the very first day when I was well you know.

Yes don't try this at home. Well incidentally Kevin Wolf of you and SI FM held with the music but he disclaims any other responsibility. There was no if you'd like to contact the folks at Hunters our farm to take up where Andy left off call 9 1 9 6 8 8 7 0 3 1 0 or to look on their horses or riding academies in the Yellow Pages of your local phone book to find out how you can take up writing and by the way Andy is now traveling in a sports car. We're all better off for it. Well coming up Michel Louis with today's news from around North Carolina and a little later in the program I'll talk with jazz singer Nina for a long run so don't go away. Good evening I'm Michel Louis with a review of the news from around our state. The

University of North Carolina system is searching for ways to improve its current approach to increasing minority graduation rates at its 16 campuses. A subcommittee of the USC Board of Governors is trying to hammer out a new five year plan outlining ways to attract minority students and retain them through graduation by hiring more black professors and improving race relations on campuses. The current five year plan is due to expire soon. The new plan will eliminate approaches that haven't worked in the past and include new methods that the Board hopes will be more successful revisions are currently being made on the first draft of the plan which will be reviewed by the board subcommittee during its next meeting in October. The Finnish proposal will then go before the full board of governors for approval by the end of the year. The plan will then have to be submitted to the General Assembly in January for funding. Meanwhile chancellors of historically black state universities say they're upset with the UN's the board of governors move that pairs down the number of graduate level programs to train school administrators. The board approved the change

today eliminating programs at two traditionally black universities Greensboro A in t and NC Central University in Durham will have to phase out their education administrator programs by 1998 and cannot accept any new students after this November. A change in state law passed by the 1993 general assembly required the university system to reduce the number of programs. But Chancellor Ed forte of North Carolina a n t University says the move could ultimately reduce the number of black and female school administrators in the state. Central Chancellor Julius Chambers says he too is disappointed and he thinks the programs at Central and A&E failed to make the final cut because the black schools historically haven't had sufficient resources. A one hundred sixty three mile section of railroad track that runs through North and South Carolina's Piedmont regions is the deadliest part of the Norfolk Southern corporations one hundred forty four thousand six hundred mile system. That from company officials who say the death rate on that section of track far exceeds that

of any other area the railway serves 41 pedestrians have died since 1991 on the section of track running from Greensboro through Charlotte to Greenville South Carolina Norfolk Southern officials cannot fully explain why such a large number of people have been killed on this particular stretch of track. However many of the deaths have been alcohol related. The dance in North Carolina resulted when pedestrians walked sat or lay on the tracks and were struck by passing trains. Norfolk Southern has launched a safety campaign to make people aware of the dangers of such practices. Today's skies were partly cloudy across the entire state. Highs were only in the 70s and the mountains could reach the mid 80s everywhere else in the state tonight partly cloudy skies will persist lows will get into the 50s in the mountains but the rest of the state will have lows in the 60s. The Wilmington area may get a few light showers tonight tomorrow partly cloudy skies will continue and Tipper drills will be mostly in the

80s. The actual area make it a thunder shower or two. And there may be some light rain in the Wilmington area. The U.S. Commerce Department is siding with North Carolina and its efforts to block offshore oil exploration. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown today turned down an appeal by Mobil Oil Corporation which sought to override North Carolina's objection to drilling near the Outer Banks. A 1992 North Carolina lodged a legal objection to Mobil being granted federal drilling and waste discharge permits without those permits drilling could not go forward. Congressman Martin Lancaster says secretaries Brown's refusal to override North Carolina's veto gives our state even more protection against offshore oil drilling. Lancaster says Congress provided North Carolina with several years of protection when it acted the Outer Banks Protection Act of 1990 that act was a response to Mobile's controversial plan to drill off the North Carolina coast. It requires the U.S.

Interior Department to research the potential impact drilling might have on fishing tourism and other coastal resources. In addition the House and Senate have already approved a bill sought by Lancaster imposing a moratorium on further sales of federal oil leases off North Carolina's coast through October of 1995. Kmart will close for more North Carolina stores in addition to a Charlotte store it already shut down those stores are in Wilmington Greensboro Eaton and Henderson. Six thousand jobs will be eliminated nationwide when 110 Kmart stores and 31 states shut their doors. Kmart is closing stores that haven't been making money so the company can concentrate on expanding and more promising areas. Kmart has been battling stiff competition from Wal-Mart stores and its efforts to regain its once dominant share of the retail market. Kmart has a major distribution center located in Greensboro that will not be affected by the store closings. The stock market tumbled today. The Dow Jones

Industrial Average lost over thirty three and a half points to close at thirty eight seventy four point eighty one decliners lead gainers by three to one as about two hundred ninety four million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The Standard Poor's 500 index was down nearly five points and the Nasdaq composite index was down over five and a half. Investors were fleeing the market following a government report showing much higher wholesale price inflation than expected. The Dow industrials were down more than 50 points during the session prompting restrictions on program trading. And now for some stocks of North Carolina interest. If you love jazz you'll certainly

enjoy tonight's newsmaker segment and if you haven't yet acquired an appreciation for jazz you'll surely become a fan after meeting tonight's guest. Nina Freeland is the jazz world's newest rising star and her success as a self-taught singer and songwriter began right here in North Carolina. I'm so glad to have you with us here tonight I've been a big fan for a while and I'm glad to see that you're having so much success right now. I really been blessed. Yeah. Yeah that's wonderful Tell me how this all happened though how you were actually discovered here in North Carolina. Well actually I've been singing here for many years I went to a Southern arts Federation jazz form in Atlanta and met Ellis Marsalis who brought me to the attention of George Butler in New York. So to those people who are aspiring for a career like this it can be done here. Oh yes I would definitely say that there's no need to to go to L.A. or to go to New York in order to pursue your dream. If you can become a success right in the local pond. You can carry that success

with you anywhere. Now you've had three CDs out at the Columbia level and I love you and you have a new one out I how you want to. How is this one different than the other two. Well this one is called listen and it's so it's a little bit of a departure because Nina Freeland the songwriter is featured on this record I wrote seven of the tunes to this particular record and it's just a new phase I think and my own personal development I've been writing songs for as long as I've been singing. But to actually have your own tunes on a product is a wonderful thrill when you're enjoying life very much right now and the success from that. Yeah. And where do you go from here or continue to do more cities. Well I hope to do to do more I hope to continue to write to continue to travel I've really been blessed to be able to go all over the world singing this music and it's it's just such a thrill it's a wonderful thing to go far away but it's always great to come home and to know that I

was loved right here in this state before the rest of the world knew anything about me so I have a lot of appreciation and love for the people. North Carolina because they nurtured me when when I was just a real you know young singer people came out and listened. I find that very hard to believe but I want to hear one of your fans for a long time and I would love if you would sing for me right now would you mind. Yeah. OK I want to hear something then from one of your favorites. OK. OK. Thank you and we're going to be hearing something right now from Nina Freeland and a company now by guitarist Scott Sawyer. So take a listen that's the name of her new CD and enjoy it this way. I

think you do you do you. OK.

We still

worry. We want to hear from you. Simply call our comment line at 9 1 9 5 0 8 0 8. Or write us at P.O. Box 1 4 9 0 0 2 7 7. You can fax a message to 9 1 9 5 4 9 7 0 4 3 0 0 Internet address. That's us at aol dot com and please give us a daytime phone number

in case we need to follow up. Wasn't she would therefore absolutely. If I could sing that way we wouldn't be here one way. OK I wanted to tell you also if you're interested in going to see her perform live. She'll be at the Carolina theatre on September 16th. Carolina theater if you're interested. It's over in Durham. That's right and also I wanted to you know Fridays we like to do viewer mail so to speak from our comment line and lately we've really been getting a lot of interesting comments from people who have wonderful story ideas for us throughout the state of North Carolina. We'd love to get that and a thank you to Mike Mayo of Cary North Carolina who is interested in the story on fly rod pond fishing. And so I will bring that up with the reporters and see who wants to do it if it involves worms of any sort. I will not do it. Well if you're looking for something to do this weekend try going to the North Carolina Zoo because Seagrove potters will

exhibit some of their craft there for the annual Grandparents Day celebration and also they will grandparents with a grandchild free. And we want to remind you tonight North Carolina people that 8:30 bill Friday will interview a painter Her name is Maude Gatewood and they will visit her at her union steel studio that's 8:30 tonight people. But we'll see you Monday and we hope you have a wonderful weekend. Goodnight everyone say they say I'm with you Kate Spade goodnight.